Category Archives: Digitizing

Digitising Blackwork

We have been away at Rottnest. Miss P went on camp and we decided to go too. It is such a relaxing place to go – no cars, nothing to do but read books and knit. I’ve made progress on Miss P’s cardigan (the yarn is Jo Sharp Desert Aran Cotton).

Sunrise over the salt lake

Sunrise over the salt lake

Sunset from our cottage

Sunset from our cottage

On the way to the look out

On the way to the look out

Salt Lake

Salt Lake – a different one

Progress on Miss P's Cardigan

Progress on Miss P’s Cardigan

Blackwork Sampler in Progress

Blackwork Sampler in Progress

I like grids, lines and crosses and I have always loved the look of Blackwork – I love how something so simple can be effective.

I have been inspired by this book to make my own blackwork sampler (using machine embroidery). I didn’t want to copy that one exactly, so I have used different fills. There are a number of blackwork resources on the web (simply search for blackwork embroidery). I found this one, which lead me to this page on 16th Century fill in patterns.

This is still quite experimental – I think it might end up being too small and the jump threads might test my sanity.

I’m using the Cross Stitch module of Embird, which is super easy to use and it comes with some built in blackwork fills (but I have decided to make my own).

I am wondering what kind of stabiliser I need? There are a lot of stitches and I suspect I need a sturdy stabiliser to stop it puckering.

 

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Filed under Cross Stitch, Digitizing, Knitting, Machine Embroidery

Another Quilt Block Finished

A Finished Bachelors Puzzle Block

A Finished Bachelors Puzzle Block

I finished the block a few weeks ago, but it has taken me a while to photograph it (not sure why it really doesn’t take that long).

This block consists of 4 smaller sub-units and then each sub-unit consists of two smaller units – does that make sense?

I used my embroidery machine and the whole block took about an hour to complete – I am not sure if this foundation piecing by embroidery machine is such a good idea. Sure it is very accurate, but it is fiddly and time consuming and I can never work out how big to make each piece because you have to stitch and flip.

Next up the final version of Bears Paws – although I suspect there will be some procrastination in the way! After all I do have a sock to finish.

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And so it Begins …

Altar Steps Block

Altar Steps Block

So I have finally started the sampler quilt. The above is an Altar Steps block, which consists of four smaller blocks (see here). There will be five of these blocks in the quilt.

I’ve discovered it is quicker to cut all of the fabric for one smaller block before beginning the block. If in doubt the piece of fabric is going to be too small!

The final quilt consists of five of each of my sampler blocks (there are 12) and an extra 3 blocks ( I haven’t decided on the extras I suspect it will be the easier to make blocks!), so that makes a total of 63 blocks (5 × 12 + 3). Only 62 blocks to go …

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Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Bear’s Paw Block Finished

Bear's Paw Block Finished

Bear’s Paw Block Finished

I stitched this out yesterday and it worked the first time so rare!

This is the last block I wanted to digitise for my sampler quilt. Now it is simply a matter of getting on with it.

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Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Bear’s Paws Block Being Digitised as a Foundation Block

Today is the last day of school holidays. I like school holidays – not having to be anywhere by a particular time, much more relaxed mornings, but it is a bit more difficult to get any jobs done that require concentration.

I want to digitise one more block for my foundation block quilt. I’ve spent a bit of time considering different traditional blocks – Arkansas Star, Attic Windows, Birds in the Air, Fox and Geese, Jacob’s Ladder – and rejecting them as too hard or requiring too many stitch outs.

In the end I decided on Bear’s Paw, which requires two stitch outs.

Bear's Paw Block

Bear’s Paw Block

The above image is four bear’s paw blocks – with some extra bits in the middle.

My block is more like this …

Bear's Paw -  One Block

Although it is all straight lines and you would think easy to digitise, I did need to think about how to split it and then what dimensions to use to get this block to be the same size as my other blocks – I knew that maths degree would come in handy some time!

I split into two sections …

Bear's Paw Split

Bear’s Paw Split

And then used Embird Studio to digitise each stitch out (I did this separately).

BearPaw_01 BearPaw_02

And then joined them using the merge feature in Embird Manager. Once I had the numbers sorted, it was all relatively easy. Now I just need to test it out!

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Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Digitised Bachelor’s Puzzle Quilt Block

SewWitty's Bachelor's Puzzle

SewWitty’s Bachelor’s Puzzle

This is 1/4 of my Bachelor’s Puzzle block.  I did this in two pieces and then joined them, which means the finished block will have 8 pieces – I might be getting a bit carried away.

I have one more block to go to make 12, but I haven’t got one in mind yet.

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Pinwheel Quilt Block Digitised

SewWitty's Pinwheel block

SewWitty’s Pinwheel block

What it looks like when there is four of them.

What it looks like when there is four of them.

This is my latest digitised block, a Pinwheel. I used paint to show you what it would like if there was four of them.

I need two more blocks to make 12 – I’m considering a Bachelor’s Puzzle, Water Wheel and New York Star – although I might think of another block before the end.

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Golden Wedding Ring Quilt Block Digitised

SewWitty's Golden Wedding Ring Block

SewWitty’s Golden Wedding Ring Block

This is another block that is only 1/4 of the final block. Check out a whole one here. It came together quite easily – I’m starting to feel more confident using Embird. As you can see in the image, I had a bit of difficulty cutting my pieces big enough, but this is just a practice run to determine whether my digitised design is OK.

I think I now have eight blocks: Log Cabin, Pineapple, Flying Geese, Courthouse Steps, Snail Trail, Iowa Star, Golden Wedding Ring, Hour Glass. My plan was to make 12 blocks for my sampler quilt, so only four more to go. Although at some stage I changed my template, so I need to double check the earlier blocks.

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Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Quilting

Iowa Star Foundation Block Made with Embroidery Machine

Iowa Star

Iowa Star

The above block is 1/4 of an Iowa Star.  You need to imagine 4 of them exactly the same, but rotated to make a square in the middle – like this

iowa Star from Quilters Cache

Iowa Star from Quilters Cache

I digitised the block using Embird Studio and it came together quickly. I did cut some of the fabric pieces a little too small, but this block was just a test to see how well I had digitised the design.

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Alter Steps Quilt Block

 

Altar Steps

Altar Steps

My digitising adventures continue. This one came together quite quickly. Although I need to find a way of reversing stitching direction. When I change the starting point to the end point all of the other points vanish. Any ideas?

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Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery